


Doom and Time ==> Combine

by Melphis_Amekia



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Soulmate AU, but it's never gonna get used cause this is a oneshot, underlying stuff I wanted to have to flesh out the setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-07 17:38:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6817489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melphis_Amekia/pseuds/Melphis_Amekia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux Captor is a hacker and a computer genius who just received a faulty computer piece and decided to went his anger on someone who works at the customer service of the company he ordered it from. He never suspected he'd hear the words of his soulmate from the other side. He took the words etched in his skin as proof that the soulmate concept is bullshit... or he thought so, before.</p><p>Aradia Megido is a college student and part time worker at customer service, and you could say "overworked" and "under the weather" are accurate, if very euphemistic, is how she felt. The words of her soulmate gave her little comfort - in fact, they looked like they laughed at the idea of soulmates. Then, she hears those same words while exhausted and finally ready to go home after work and she still can't help but feel some hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doom and Time ==> Combine

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, this is an AraSol soulmate AU I wrote for holycowworshipper for the homestuckendexchange. Not my usual ship so I hope I did okay.

_„You are going to go blind.” the voices say, a chorus of chilling whispers. „You are going to die twice.” Sollux could feel them, all around in the darkness which enveloped his dream. They were an endless mass of darkness and fear, and he couldn’t sleep peacefully because of them. Maybe this time, they will finally say something ne-._

„Shithead, your package arrived!” Something was pressed into Sollux’s body forcefully, almost knocking him out of his chair.

„What the fuck, man?” he asked, pissed as hell. „My dreams are shit, Karkat, but there is no universe where I would let you yell me out of them!”

„Tough fucking luck, piece of two day old mucus. I am not your kawaii delivery boy either but here I am, putting this piece of shit graphics card or whatever in your hands when I could have easily just slammed the fucking door into the guys face and left your shiny little piece to get your bulge roaring outside for all predatory nerds to get their paws on it.”

„Just shut the fuck up and get out of my face, jegus. Listening to you is worse than a headache.” If Karkat wasn’t an actually decent guy, Sollux would have moved out a long time ago. Occasionally putting up with his rants was a small price to pay to live as roommates in a decent apartment.

„Yeah, you’re welcome, fuckass.” said Karkat, trying(and failing) to speak less loudly. He left the room, leaving Sollux to check out his package.

He ripped apart the carton paper to find exactly what he was expecting - a brand new iCore X12-413 processor, perfect to pull the extra weight for the new work stuff he was going to do. It was not official work like his „hey, you hacked into just about every single security system on the planet, how about we pay you to both strengthen the system and then try to hack it again so you can make it better again and do that until it becomes really fucking good” job. He wanted to try his hand at making games, and with the last piece of equipment finally here, he could semi-automate his sick hacker job and still have enough resources to create a game.

Or games, plural. He had only limited experience with such projects, so he wanted to start with something simple, break the processes down in form of several smaller games before going on to make THE GAME. That was how he thought about it, all caps and blurry vision of what he wanted it to be.

He’d need a score of artists and designers, maybe some other pretentious code crunchers like himself. It would be easily affordable. Now, if they would only end up being reliable assholes instead of just assholes like most people, it could all turn out... ok.

Sollux turned to actually integrate the CPU into his one-of-a-kind system, which was basically a mini-supercomputer he built himself, instead of fantasizing about the future. The fucking voices were enough of a (literal) pain to waste time on it. With the last part in it, it will contain the power of 4 strong computers in one.

When Sollux finished with the integration(the cooling system gave him some trouble, which was annoying), he sat back in his chair and booted the sucker up.

It didn’t run.

 _Weird. It should run... Maybe I did something wrong._ Sollux opened the PC case, un-installed the processor, first checking if he screwed somewhere up, which he didn’t, then checking if there was anything wrong with the processor or the cooling towers themselves, but everything was fine. All the other components have been tested to work. He hoped it was something weird that happened once and installed the processor back again.

The piece of shit _still_ didn’t run.

 _Holy fuck. That was absolutely the worst thing that could have happened._ Sollux slumped, suddenly exhausted, his brain flaring up with pain as if the dream voices have managed to haunt him while he was awake. It was all such _bullshit._ Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, _bullshit!_

 _I need a fucking break._ Sollux got up and went to the small balcony, passing by a romcom-engrossed Karkat in the living room. It was one of those happy-end soulmates movie that was so sappy, Sollux could barely stand to watch it without either laughing like a madman or gagging. Possibly both at the same time.

He crashed into one of the cheap plastic chairs and lit a cigarette, blowing the first drag in the direction of the almost-set sun. Sollux burnt through it fast, so he lit another one. And another.

He was half-way through the second pack, the one he wouldn’t have touched usually for at least two more days, in less than an hour. His mind was oppressed with the memory of the haunting voices and today’s disappointment, one he could not shake off as he normally could.

He wanted to do something stupid. It was an impulse he frequently got but rarely indulged, completely opposite to Karkat.

What was that number for the customer service again?

In two seconds, he already had it found, entered, and had pressed the call button.

 _Of course_ , Sollux first had to go through the fucking automatic responder and then wait to get his call picked up while listening to a disgustingly cheerful tone. He really should’ve hacked it first to get around that bullshit.

He was about to hung up, the rage he channeled dissipated into boredoom, when he heard:

„Good day, this is customer service for Int BM, how may I help you?” The girl’s voice was nice and sort of apologetic, which was an even bigger drag on his initial plan.

_Fantastic. Might as well go through this shit I dragged myself into._

„There’s absolutely nothing that can make this day qualify as a good day.” he said, keeping his tone low enough so he wouldn’t start yelling Karkat-style. „I’ve been woken from a shitty dream by a loud as fuck roommate because I got the processor I ordered from you shitheads and, when I installed it, it would not fucking run. So that’s what the federal fucking issue is and I want it addressed.”

„Well, sir,” she started, „I am first going to need your name so that I can see your order.” Sollux unwillingly grunted it out, which seemed to make her laugh. „Cool. Given the general amount of orders you have from us, I will assume you haven’t forgotten to install the cooling tower too or stuff like that?”

„ _No shit_ , Sherlock.”

„That means that something is wrong with the component we sent you. I can make an order for a replacement processor which will be specifically tested as per our terms and services so the new component works 100%. I assume you have read our terms and services?”

„Who the fuck reads those?” Sollux asked. He felt she was about to say some fucked up thing they hid in those legalese walls of text.

„By those terms, in case you wish to place an order for replacement, you will have to pay half of the cost of the component again.”

 _What. The. Fuck._ „You are bullshitting me. What kind of a company does pulls this kind of a shitty scam?”

„One from hell, it seems.”

There was a tirade building in Sollux, one he was about to unleash upon her because he just had _enough_ of this, but there was something to those words that made him laugh, and then... and then...

WAIT.

Sollux looked at the tattoos on his down side of his forearms, ones that were the exact same thing the customer service girl just said.

„I literally, absolutely, in no fucking way, can deal with this romcom bullshit right now.”

\----------------

Aradia really wished she wouldn’t get another call.

This job was the only one she could get in time that would pay enough so she could keep herself up.

It was also the worst job she had ever had to do.

Or, well. It wasn’t the worst, exactly, as digging through „archeological” sites, unpaid, for her course would definitely count as much worse than sitting and talking calmly to some disappointed customers. And Aradia liked to help!

Except that the people she had to help weren’t disappointed customers, but mostly assholes and scammers. She could barely make it through the work hours, staying nice and just letting what was said to her go as best she could if there weren’t at least some people who called who were reasonable.

She had ten minutes before she could escape when they routed a call to her. Ugh. She breathed deeply once, twice, before answering.

The guy, Sollux Captor, was an ass, flinging out swears like Indiana Jones shot bullets, but there was something endearing about it which made his call not completely awful. And then, he said:

„I literally, absolutely, in no fucking way, can deal with this romcom bullshit right now.”

Aradia froze, the realization hitting her like a whip. She knew those words, the same words that showed up like tattoos on her right thigh when she was 11. Ones that, when her soulmate would say them, she would immediately know they were the one.

Ones she wanted to hear badly.

She should have figured she would hear them like this.

„Um. This is pretty awkward.” _The perfect understatement to start this off._

„No s-.” The guy stopped from finishing that thought, thankfully. „Yeah, it’s awkward as fuck.”

„Maybe if I tell you my name, it might become less awkward? It is Aradia Megido, and, despite the circumstances, I am pleased to meet you.” He chuckled, all harsh and throaty but somehow nice, which Aradia counted as a victory.

„Nah, still awkward as fuck. I’m not really a guy for this „soulmate” stuff. I was never into it. Why not just try and find someone who will be that „soulmate” for you without having it be predestined? Seems more natural or however the fuck you want to call that to me.”

„While I agree on the principle,” Aradia started, happy that she had a good counter to his argument, „this system, if you wish to call it like that, can match up someone with the right person for themselves and vice versa.” Since he didn’t reply, she continued:

„In the case you wish to explore that possibility, would you agree to meet with me in person? I am not obliging you for anything more.”

He was silent for some time. Aradia wished to know what he was thinking, how the debate looked like in his mind. The wait was beginning to feel frustrating, and she was checking her screen for the call timer to see if he hadn’t hung up without a word every couple of seconds.

Finally, when she was about to ask him if he was alright, he replied:

„Sure. I guess it won’t hurt.”

„It won’t, probably.”

„Probably?” he asked, sounding amused.

„I am not the masochist type, but I can’t discount the possibility that you are. Are you that type, Mr. Captor?” Aradia was talking with more empty bravado than actual confidence, but it felt good and appropriate and Sollux’s chuckle sounded so nice...

„Nah, that’s something of my roommates domain. Not much for more mental torture than I already get.” By his tone, whatever he meant by mental torture must have been serious, but a phone call like this wasn’t a place to discuss heavy stuff.

„So you just don’t want to admit you are one?” Aradia asked.

„Can’t argue with that.” he replied.

„So, um. When can we meet? I am pretty busy usually but I have this Saturday afternoon free, if that’s ok?”

„That sounds good. Do you have a place in mind?”

„No. Not yet. Let’s add each other on social media and we’ll figure something out later.” Aradia yawned suddenly. She looked at the bottom right of her screen to see it was almost half an hour after her shift had finished.

She yawned again.

„You sound tired as hell.” Sollux said.

„Yeah. Had a long day of college and work...” Aradia facepalmed, remembering why Sollux originally called.

„Oh, before I forget. I’ll see tomorrow if I can get the replacement processor for you for free. Hopefully I can make it happen.”

„Heh. Thanks.”

„You should still be prepared to pay, just in case.” Aradia said. „See you soon, Sollux. Goodbye.”

„See you soon, Aradia.” With that, he hung up, and Aradia truly felt the exhaustion crash over her like a boulder. She shut down the work computer she was using, took her stuff and left.

Her apartment, if you could call three cramped up rooms like that, was near the call center, and, even though she would probably fall asleep the moment she got into bed, she felt light and happy like a fairy. Aradia didn’t know a person who didn’t want to meet their soulmate, and she was no exception. Soon, it was finally going to happen.

She was grinning like an idiot all the way home, not even noticing how cold the walk was or _anything_ , completely engrossed in her own thoughts.

\----------------

AA: Don’t forget, it’s on Derse Avenue 2!  
AA: See you there, Sollux.  
TA: See you, AA.

\----------------

Aradia checked her watch, a special, pretty old thing with a dark red band and a lighter red gear motif. Perfect. She arrived right on time in front of the Skaia Arcade. It was one of the rare arcades that featured old-school stuff alongside the more prominent gaming-focused stuff and especially rare in the fact that it didn’t only feature the trendiest pop or rap music, but also stuff like rock classics and indie songs. Aradia loved it because she enjoy any part of it on it’s own or all at once, depending on her mood.

The Skaia Museum of Old Civilizations was also nearby, which was absolutely perfect.

Sollux wasn’t here yet. He said he might be a little late with, by his words, how „into” his projects he could get but that he’d try to be on time. Aradia sat on a nearby bench and waited, listening to some song she didn’t recognize that was blaring from the Arcade but was pretty good.

He showed up just as the song ended, looking, _somehow_ , pretty slick in a casual black shirt(which said THE CAKE IIS A LIE), very dark blue jeans, the red-and-blue sunglasses he said he never took of(a total lie, as he admitted five second later he took them off when he showered) and his hair messily done with gel.

„Hey, Aradia.”

„Hey, Sollux. Lookin’ sharp.” He didn’t look like he agreed, but he nodded anyway.

„I’ve never been to an arcade. Actually, I thought they were a fucking relic of the 90’s or something. Please don’t tell me it’s full of pretentious, arrogant hipsters? This seems like the perfect place for them.”

„Of course not. I come in here sometimes.” Aradia paused for a second before continuing over the sound of Sollux laughing. „But no, I haven’t met anyone here who’d fit the description. Hipster, maybe, but not pretentious or arrogant. Not much more than you, anyways.”

„I guess.” he said, smirking. „So what do you actually do here? You said you could game here but not much else.”

Aradia smiled like an innocent child.

„Do you know how to dance?”

\----------------

Dancing was fucking hard, and not a thing Sollux wanted to repeat again soon, or at all. He was panting from the exercise, just about managing not to fall down in a chair like a sack of potatoes when they found a table.

Of course, Aradia didn’t look tired at all.

„You weren’t bad, Sollux.” she said.

„You beat me easily on every single machine we tried out. It wasn’t even close.”

„Actually, I thought you were going to be either paradoxically awesome or utterly dreadful. For a first-timer, you did fine.” She had a genuine smile on her face, which threw Sollux off. It was pretty unusual for him to suck at something and get what was basically a compliment anyway.

„Thanks, I guess.” he replied shakily. Their orders, a mocha with extra sugar(Sollux) and simple black coffe(Aradia), arrived. Sollux took a sip and then asked: „How often are you actually here? Getting good at anything takes some effort and you seem like you’re at home.”

„Not as often as you might think.” she said. Sollux wasn’t sure if he was reading into things(or that he was good at it), but something about his question looked like it made her sad. „I don’t really get to go here more than once every two weeks.”

„Why not?”

She was silent for a while before she answered: „Usually, if I even confide in someone, I tell them I don’t have time. I guess I’ll tell you the true reason later.”

Sollux nodded. He could see she didn’t really want to talk about it now, and he didn’t want to press. Her having secrets like that wasn’t surprising - he was far too cynical not to know everyone held something severe close to themselves.

It’s not like he didn’t have some himself.

„Yeah. This is a pretty sweet place.” he said, changing the topic. „I could come here some a few more times.”

„What, just a few more times?”

„Depends on how good it is.”

„Uh-uh. And what constitutes being classed as good?”

„The content. Decent internet. A store with good ramen nearby. I, uh, wouldn’t mind if the view was nice too.”

Aradia smiled, all radiance and coyness, and damn did it look really good on her. Oh.

„And is the view nice?”

It was his turn to smile.

„Can’t get any better.”

Sollux knew in himself he was defeated, that this soulmate shit might actually work. He didn’t want to show it yet, though, so he drank the last of his coffee and said:

„Don’t get cocky yet, AA. That’s just one tick off the list. Show me the other stuff you’ve hidden from me.”

Aradia got up and offered her hand to Sollux, a smirk playing on her lips. „Nothing will stay hidden for long, I think.”

Sollux took the hand.

\----------------

After Aradia left his apartment, there was one true question in his mind aside from the general euphoria.

How the fuck did his bed survive that night?

\----------------

_One year later, during work hours_

TA: Hey, AA.  
AA: Hey, Sollux.  
TA: It’s been a year.  
AA: Yeah, wow.  
TA: Thank you for sticking with me.  
AA: I can say the same for you.  
AA: See you tonight, Sollux.  
AA: Love you.  
TA: Love you too, AA.


End file.
